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How-To Geek

Our latest edition of WIG is filled with news link goodness covering topics such as web apps are now available for Firefox 16 nightly builds, Google has acquired Quickoffice & Meebo, ad networks are going around Apple to track iOS users, and more.

Weekly News Links

LinkedIn passwords in circulationInternet forums are currently circulating a list containing over six million password hashes which allegedly originate from LinkedIn. The passwords are being cracked collaboratively with about 300,000 passwords already published as plaintext.

Millions of Last.fm passwords leakedA list with several million passwords belonging to users of the music community site Last.fm has been posted on the internet. The site owners have posted a statement saying that the company is investigating the leak and that all users of the service should change their passwords immediately.

eHarmony member passwords compromisedOn the heels of LinkedIn’s confirmation of compromised passwords, eHarmony says it is resetting passwords of its users that is says were also compromised.

Password leaks bigger than first thoughtThere have still been no official statements on the causes and extent of the recent password leaks at LinkedIn, eHarmony and Last.fm. A credible source is now reporting that the published 2.5 million Last.fm MD5 hashes, for example, are just the tip of a 17 million hash iceberg.

Microsoft contains Flame with Windows Update revampFollowing a groundbreaking cryptographic attack that hijacked the platform Microsoft uses to deliver updates to millions of large customers, the company has issued changes designed to prevent similar exploits from working again.

Attackers Hit Weak Spots in 2-Factor AuthenticationAn attack late last week that compromised the personal and business Gmail accounts of Matthew Prince, chief executive of Web content delivery system CloudFlare, revealed a subtle but dangerous security flaw in the 2-factor authentication process used in Google Apps for business customers. Google has since fixed the glitch, but the incident offers a timely reminder that two-factor authentication schemes are only as secure as their weakest component.

It’s official! Mozilla Web Apps available for Ubuntu’s FirefoxMozilla developers have recently released a fix that makes the entire web apps stack usable under Linux, in the sense of allowing Linux users to install and run web apps via their Firefox web-browser. You will need to have Firefox 16 Nightly installed in order to access this new feature.

Akemi Iwaya is a devoted Mozilla Firefox user who enjoys working with multiple browsers and occasionally dabbling with Linux. She also loves reading fantasy and sci-fi stories as well as playing "old school" role-playing games. You can visit her on Twitter and Google+.